


Maybe You Should Just Drop Out

by wildz907



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Gender-Neutral Apprentice (The Arcana), M/M, POV Second Person, just as in canon everyone has a thing for the reader, reader's backstory is intentionally vague
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22384729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildz907/pseuds/wildz907
Summary: You're starting a new school, and you have every intention of just making it through the rest of high school without having to interact much with anyone. The last thing you were expecting was for a group of some of the most extra people you'd ever met to take a liking to you. Is it too late to switch schools?basically i got bored and wrote a high school au for a game that i'm lowkey addicted to
Relationships: Asra (The Arcana)/Reader, Asra/Julian Devorak, Asra/Muriel (The Arcana), Julian Devorak/Reader, Lucio/Nadia (The Arcana), Lúcio/Reader, Muriel (The Arcana)/Reader, Nadia (The Arcana)/Reader, Portia Devorak/Nadia, Portia Devorak/Reader
Comments: 49
Kudos: 180





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yeah so i wrote this all within 24 hours. i've never tried writing a thing where the main character is the reader so uh?? hope i didn't do too terribly? anyway yeah have a stupid hs au where all ur faves from the arcana wanna be besties with you (and maybe more??). if anyone actually reads this and likes it maybe i'll write more idk i'm not making any promises i've learned to never promise to write more of a thing cuz chances are i probs won't

You walked into the office of the high school feeling somewhat out of place. The amount of change happening in your life was honestly overwhelming to you. It was hard enough to move in with your Aunt, since you barely knew her, but now you were starting at a new school. You weren't as upset as other people might be, since you couldn't say you were particularly attached to anyone at your old school. But at least it had been familiar, unlike this place. You weren't exactly thrilled about having to learn the layout of a new school, and get used to new people. It didn't help that you were starting this school a month into the school year, either. Still, you were determined to just keep your head down and do your work. All you had to do was get through 3 years of this, and then you could go off to college and begin the rest of your life.

You were relieved that it didn't take too long for you to get your schedule. You walked through the office building and looked at your schedule while you walked. Apparently this school did block scheduling on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so today you would only have periods 1, 3, and 5, and you'd have the rest tomorrow. That would take some getting used to. For now, perhaps you should explore the school to figure out which building was which? You checked your phone and saw you still had 20 minutes until first period, so you had the time. With your mind made up, you approached the doors to exit the office building. Right when you were reaching to open the door, it was flung open dramatically by someone on the other side.

You stared in shock at the boy in front of you. His hair was very blonde, and his name brand clothes were very flashy. You supposed it was just your luck to run right into a fuckboy.

"Are you just going to stand there all day? You're in my way," the fuckboy said in a huffy tone. You rolled your eyes at him.

"You're in my way too, you know," and here you go, getting yourself into a pointless argument with a pointless person. So much for keeping your head down.

"Did you really just talk to me like that?! Don't you know who I am?" he demanded.

"Uh, no? This is literally my first day at this school. I also really don't care," you responded in a bored tone. "I don't have time for this." 

You pushed past him while ignoring his words of outrage. This guy was entirely too full of himself, and you really didn't have the energy to deal with it. You focused on exploring the school and figuring out where each of your classes was. Now that you knew where you needed to be at each point during the day, you felt a lot better. With only a couple minutes to spare, you made your way back to the location of your first class, Honors Biology. 

You figured you should go inside and talk to the teacher before the class started. After all, you had no clue if there was a seating chart, and if there was work you needed to make up. The syllabus could be entirely different than what you were working on at your old school.

You walked into the classroom, and immediately felt uncomfortable when you made eye contact with the teacher. There was something _very_ unsettling about them. They tilted their head slightly to the side as they looked at you.

"Um, hi, I'm the new student?" you'd never felt this uncertain before while talking to a teacher. 

"Oh, yes, I know who you are. I'm Dr. Valdemar. Here's the course syllabus. Seeing as it is the middle of the week, you do not have to worry about the homework. However, starting Monday you will be expected to turn it in. My TA will assist you in understanding where we are in the material," they spoke in such a detached way. You definitely were not liking this at all. The bad vibes got even worse when they smiled a downright creepy smile. "You arrived just in time to participate in our first dissection on Friday. You're very lucky." 

Ooookay. You just had nothing to say to that. Seriously, what the actual fuck was wrong with this person? You silently took the syllabus, and barely registered Dr. Valdemar telling you which desk was yours. You sat down and pretended to read the syllabus, but really you just wanted to avoid making any more eye contact with Dr. Creepy. Were there other schools in this area you could transfer to? Because so far you'd found zero reasons to like this one.

"I've never seen someone concentrate so hard on the syllabus before," a voice interrupted your thoughts, and you quickly looked up.

"Wow, you're tall," today was just a day for words to come out of your mouth without you thinking about it at all, apparently.

"Ah, yes, I guess I am," the tall guy agreed, smirking at you and running a hand through his red hair. "I'm Julian, the TA for this class? Dr. Valdemar wanted me to get you up to speed."

Right, you'd sort of immediately forgotten that you were supposed to talk to the TA. You narrowed your eyes at him, and asked, "Can you sit down? It's awkward talking to you with you towering over me."

Julian laughed and sat down next to you. "Is this better?" 

You smiled at him and nodded. "Much better. So, if you're a TA I'm guessing you're a senior?"

"I'm a junior, actually. I just happened to do very well in this course when I took it," he explained, winking at you. "So if you have any questions, you can always come to me."

"Will do, since I wouldn't want to bother the teacher," you muttered, glancing quickly over at Dr. Valdemar, who was luckily not looking over at the two of you.

Julian nodded in understanding. "They are, well, quite intense. You'll learn a lot in this class, though."

Well, that was something at least. Julian gave you a quick run through of what material had already been covered, and what the class was currently learning. Luckily, the class seemed to be at about where your old class had been at. You could only hope it would be that way for all your classes. 

Once the class actually started, you busied yourself with taking notes. Whenever you started getting bored and wanted to space out, you would doodle in the margins to keep yourself focused on the present. It was all too easy for you to get lost in your head, and you definitely wanted to avoid that. The class went by soon enough, and the second the bell rang you were out of your seat. You didn't want to stay in the classroom longer than you had to. You waved a quick goodbye to Julian, and headed off to your next class. 

Your next class was English, which shouldn't be too hard. Essays were easy enough for you to write, all you had to do was write some bullshit but make it sound nice. You once again went through the process of talking to the teacher, and found out that the class had just started doing group projects. Well, that was just great. You absolutely hated that kind of thing. You would much rather just work by yourself, honestly. You asked if you could, but sadly you were shot down and told to join two people named Asra and Portia. You awkwardly slunk over to the two that the teacher pointed to. They were quite distinctive, with one having fluffy white hair and the other having curly red hair (wow, this was the second redhead you were meeting today). 

"Uh, hey, apparently I'm in your group," you said to them, and you proceeded to introduce yourself 

"It's nice to meet you! I'm Portia," the red haired girl grinned at you. You smiled back, feeling a little more at ease due to her friendly demeanor.

"I'm Asra," his smile was a lot smaller, but seemed no less genuine. 

The two of them explained the project to you, which was related to the current book the class was reading (Macbeth). The three of you had to pick a scene and record yourselves acting it out. Apparently you could also have people from outside the class help, and they assured you they had some friends that would be more than willing. You also got invited to sit with them at lunch, which was rather nice of them. You weren't sure if you would, because you didn't exactly plan on joining a friend group. Then again, did you really want to be that loner sitting by themselves at lunch for the next three years? Better to at least give these people a chance. It wasn't like you had to actually hangout with them outside of school, with the exception of the project.

The class went by quickly, between making plans for the project, and then the class having to spend time reading the play. Before you knew it, it was already lunchtime. Portia linked her arm through yours and started leading you to the cafeteria, which meant that you were going to be sitting with her and her friends whether you liked it or not. She and Asra led you to a table that had four people sitting there, and you were surprised to see you recognized two of them.

"Hey guys, I made a new friend! They're a new student here," Portia excitedly told the group. She introduced you to them, and you forced yourself to smile and wave. Portia continued talking. "That's my brother, Julian."

"Oh, I've already had the pleasure of meeting them," he told his sister. He smiled at you. "Good to see you again."

Before you could respond to him, the other person you recognized spoke up. "Hey, I know you! You're the rude one who pushed past me in the office this morning."

Well, this was just great. You had no desire to interact with this guy at all. "You're the one who came at me sideways, dude. I don't know what you want from me," you defended yourself.

"I want an apology!" the blond brat demanded. The girl next to him rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder.

"Lucio, leave them alone. Do you really need to be harassing a new student?" she said. She turned to look at you. "Please, just ignore him. My name is Nadia."

She held out a lovely manicured hand, and you awkwardly shook it. Well, at least she seemed nice, though you had to admit she was slightly intimidating. She had an aura of such confidence, unlike most of the awkward teenagers here. Her long, purple hair was elegantly braided, which just added to her look of refinement.

You finally looked over at the last person, and wow. You'd thought Julian was tall, but this guy was a beast! He had dark hair, and a big, bulky body. He looked down at the table and refused to meet your eyes. You saw how he sat at a distance from everyone else, and you honestly felt for him. Poor dude seemed like he didn't love social interaction at all. What a mood.

"This is Muriel," Asra spoke up, and gave the big guy a fond smile. "Don't be offended if he doesn't talk to you too much. It takes him a while to warm up to people."

Asra sat down between Muriel and Julian. Portia sat down across from them, next to Nadia and Lucio. She patted the spot next to her, and you sat down. You were beyond grateful to have two people between you and Lucio. The only downside was that Portia seemed to really enjoy talking, and she was determined to get to know you better. 

You noticed that nobody seemed to be getting in line to get food. Uh, did none of these people eat? You'd believe it from lanky Julian and slight Asra, but Portia had some healthy weight to her, and there was no way a dude as big as Muriel didn't eat. You understood a couple minutes later though, when Lucio looked at his phone and grinned.

"The UberEats is pulling into the parking lot!" he declared triumphantly. "C'mon Jules, help me carry the food."

Julian looked disgruntled, but he didn't argue. You watched as they walked over to the gate and waved over a guy carrying bags from McDonald's. Jesus, these people really had the money to buy that much food off UberEats?? Must be nice. Well, you'd have to settle for whatever the cafeteria was offering, and pray that it wouldn't give you food poisoning.

"Hey, what are they gonna eat?" Portia demanded, gesturing to you as Lucio and Julian set down the bags.

"Ugh, how should I know? I didn't even know this rando would be sitting with us," Lucio scowled.

"It's fine, I don't need anything," you told Portia. You didn't bother saying anything to Lucio. 

"Well, we can't in good conscience let you starve," Julian said with a frown. "Or worse, eat from the cafeteria!" 

He grabbed a box of nuggets that was positioned between him and Asra and slid it over to you. 

"Whoa, no, I'm not taking your food," you tried to hand it back but he shook his head.

"We still each have a burger, we'd just been planning to share the nuggets because we love food," Asra assured you. 

"Please, my dear, we want you to eat," Julian said with a wink. You felt yourself flushing at the kindness of these people who were basically total strangers. 

"Um, okay, if you're sure," you mumbled. "Thank you."

"You can share my soda. I promise I don't have herpes or anything," Portia told you. "I'm not Lucio."

"Hey! It was mono, not herpes!" Lucio whined. Everyone at the table either sighed, or face-palmed. Well, at least you weren't the only one who got annoyed by him. Was he just the sugar daddy of the friend group?

Lunch passed by quickly, with everyone eating and talking (or just eating, in Muriel's case). You found yourself not really minding this whole situation as much as you'd thought you would. These people were a lot to handle, but they seemed pretty nice. Maybe you could handle sitting with them all the time? In any case, you were actually disappointed when lunch ended. You were even more disappointed when you realized your last class of the day was PE. 

Your mood brightened slightly when Portia asked what you had next, and you discovered she was in that class too. Your mood dropped again, though, when you learned Lucio was as well.

"Wait, but isn't he a junior...?" you'd learned during lunch that Lucio, Nadia, Julian and Muriel were juniors, while Portia and Asra were sophomores like yourself.

"He failed the class last year," Portia responded with a shrug as the two of you went to the locker room. 

You wondered how in the world he failed PE. You weren't a master athlete, but you still passed easily enough. As long as you made the bare minimum effort, they would pass you. Well, whatever, you didn't really care. 

You realized you hadn't been given any gym clothes, nor did you have any type of running shoes with you. You looked down dubiously at your converse. You supposed they'd get the job done, it just wasn't entirely comfortable. Still, you should probably talk to the teacher? You approached them and explained your situation, and were relieved to find out that you didn't have to participate today. You'd apparently get clothes at the end of the class, and you just had to make sure to bring appropriate shoes on Friday.

"Ugh, you're soooo lucky," Portia complained. "Maybe I should pretend to be sick?"

You almost hoped she would, so she could keep you company. However, she decided against it, so you made your way over to sit on the bleachers by yourself. You had barely just sat down when someone approached you. You held back a sigh as Lucio walked over to the bleachers.

"Oh, it's you," he said, scowling at you. You saw he was still dressed in the same clothes he'd been wearing all day. 

"What are you doing over here?" you asked him, somehow managing to keep a neutral tone.

He rolled his eyes at the question, but at this moment, his annoyance didn't seem to be directed at you. "I refuse to wear those gross, ugly gym clothes, so they won't let me work out."

"Oh my god, is that how you failed in PE last year?" you asked incredulously. 

"It's all their fault! If they'd just let me wear my own clothes, there wouldn't be a problem," he complained as he sat down next to you. Uh, what the fuck? You didn't exactly want to spend the next two hours sitting with him. He was oblivious to your discomfort, and just kept on talking. "I'm actually a great athlete, you know? I could outrun anyone else in this class! It's so unfair they keep making me sit out. What's so important about the stupid uniform anyway?"

"I guess they don't want people sweating in their clothes and then walking around the rest of the day all gross?" you said with a shrug, since he seemed to actually be expecting a reply from you.

"I have clothes to work out in, they just won't let me wear them," Lucio whined. "As long as I have workout clothes, why does it even matter if they're school issued or not?"

That... actually wasn't the most illogical thing he had ever said. "You've got a point," you admitted. "But why do schools do any of the things they do? Half the rules never make any sense."

Lucio grinned at your words. "See, you understand me! You know, maybe you're not so bad after all. I think we'll be good friends."

Oh, no, that was the last thing you'd wanted. Still, if he was going to be in your life, it was probably better to get along with him. You didn't really want him hating your guts if you'd have to interact with him on a daily basis. Fine, he wins this one. You were going to stoop so low as to be friends with a douchebag. 

Since Lucio loved the sound of his own voice, he did most of the talking, which suited you well enough. You responded when prompted, but otherwise just let him chatter away for the next couple hours. At least you were able to learn a lot about your new friends, though Lucio's opinions were probably incredibly biased. He seemed to have a thing for Nadia, but it was unclear if they were actually a couple or not? They only seemed to hook up when they were drunk, from the sounds of it. Lucio had apparently hit on basically everyone else in the friend group, which was a little interesting. You were used to fuckboys just being straight, but Lucio seemed to be attracted to anyone and anything.

"And, like, Jules and Asra are kinda a thing, or were a thing, who the hell knows with those two," Lucio kept gossiping to you. "And there's totally some unresolved tension with Asra and Muriel. Who knows if they'll ever act on it though. Oh, and Noddy and Portia get all flirty sometimes, which is kinda hot."

If even half of all this was true, it sounded like everyone all had things for each other. And nobody was straight. That was kind of nice that you'd gravitated right towards your fellow gays. Well, you supposed you couldn't fault them for all liking each other. After all, though you had spent all day pointedly ignoring it, you weren't entirely unaware of how damn attractive they all were. Seriously, how could a group of people all look so different yet all be so hot? It was kind of unfair.

"Anyway, I think you'll fit right in, with how cute you are," Lucio was still fucking talking, and wait, _what_? He was grinning at you again, and you felt your face turn red at his comment. Ugh, you so weren't used to people saying that kind of thing to you.

"So how long have you all known each other?" you decided to just change the subject. Lucio's smirk told you that he knew what you were doing, but apparently he wasn't enough of a dick to actually call you out. 

You half-listened to him talk as you watched Portia jog around the track. As she passed by you, she waved at you and winked. You waved back and smiled at her. She was kind of super adorable. 

You were super glad when the class ended. Sure, it was a relief that Lucio had decided to be nice to you, but damn was he a lot to deal with. Luckily, he said his goodbyes rather quickly once the bell rang, and he hurried off somewhere. You stuck around and waited for Portia to finish changing. Her face lit up when she left the locker room and saw you waiting for her.

"Aww, you didn't have to stick around!" she told you. "Where are you getting picked up at?"

"Oh, I'm taking the bus home," you told her. 

"Do you want a ride? I'm sure Julian wouldn't mind!" she offered. You considered it for a second, but then shook your head. You didn't want to inconvenience Julian. Portia looked like she wanted to push it, but she didn't. "Well, Asra and Muriel take the bus, so I'm sure you can sit with them!"

That sounded nice. You weren't used to having friends to sit with on the bus. You and Portia walked to the parking lot together, and before you parted ways, she exchanged phone numbers with you. You couldn't help but smile at seeing her name in your phone. You said your goodbyes to her, and then headed to the bus stop. It was easy to find Muriel and Asra, since Muriel towered over everyone else. You weaved your way through the crowd of students and made your way over to them.

"Hey," Asra greeted you with his usual small but kind smile. "You're taking the bus too?"

"Yeah, I'm not old enough to drive yet, and my aunt is too busy to pick me up," you said.

"I understand, my parents are usually very busy too. You're welcome to sit with me and Muriel."

You looked questioningly at Muriel to confirm he was fine with this, and he nodded once. Well, alright, that was good enough for you. The bus pulled up and everyone started piling on. You were surprised that the back was left empty, but then you saw Muriel and Asra confidently sit down there. You supposed everyone was too intimidated by Muriel to try taking the seat. Well, it worked out well since the very back was the only place on the bus the three of you would have space to sit together.

"So, do you have time this weekend to work on the group project?" Asra asked you. "Everyone else is free then."

"I have to work a few hours each day, but I'm sure I can make time," you answered after a moment of consideration.

"You have a job?" Asra seemed a bit surprised.

"My aunt owns a small store, and I have to help her run it," you explained. "I don't mind, it's not like I really have much else to do."

It wasn't like you'd expected to make friends. You wondered if seeing them outside of school would just be a one time thing or not. At this point, you weren't sure if that was something you still wanted. Still, it was best not to get too attached so soon. One day of interactions didn't necessarily mean anything. They could all decide you were boring, and then where would you be? It was definitely best to not let them in too much, just in case. In the mean time, though, you'd enjoy having people to talk to.

"So, are you going to be in the video?" you asked Muriel, who seemed shocked at actually being addressed by you.

"....No," he muttered. "Just gonna film it."

"Lucky you," you sighed. "I hate seeing myself on camera."

Asra laughed. "I'm sure you'll be fine. At least you know you won't be as obnoxious as Lucio."

"I don't think anyone could be as bad as him," you agreed. "He's decides that he doesn't hate me anymore. I almost wish he still did, so then he wouldn't have spent two hours talking nonstop."

"Maybe you should try to make him mad at you again?" Asra teased. 

"Trust me, I'm definitely tempted," you groaned.

"It won't work." 

You looked at Muriel in surprise, and his face turned red. He looked away from you and spoke again. "Can't get rid of him once he likes you."

"You're definitely not wrong," Asra agreed. He seemed pleased that Muriel was participating in the conversation. Asra looked at you again and then asked to see your phone. You unlocked it with your fingerprint and passed it over, and you watched him enter his contact information, and Muriel's too. He then sent himself a text so he would have your number.

Wow, now you had three new numbers in your phone. You doubted you would actually text any of them, except maybe to confirm the day and time of the meetup to do the group project. Still, it felt nice to actually have the option to text people. That was definitely a first. 

You almost missed your stop, since you were unfamiliar with the area, but you got off just in time. You were glad that you didn't have to work today. Instead, you just went and laid on your bed and reflected on your day. Your first day of school was definitely unexpected. The people you had met were all very interesting, and they seemed determined to bring you into their group. Only time would tell if real friendships would be formed or not. In the meantime, though, you were definitely curious to see what the next day would bring.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello here's the (very late) next chapter! time for day two of school~ i got a request for more nadia, so i made sure to have some extra interactions with her!

You yawned as you slowly shuffled over to the bus stop. Your aunt had dropped you off at school yesterday morning since it was your first day, but now you were on your own. It also meant waking up earlier to make the bus. It had taken you a while to fall asleep last night, since you had a lot on your mind. You had a whole new set of classes to deal with today. You were also preparing yourself for some more interesting interactions. A part of you was worried that yesterday was a fluke, and that you'd be back to being alone today. That concern was put to rest, though, when you got onto the bus. Asra and Muriel were already there, and Asra waved you over. The only open space this time was next to Muriel, so you flopped down next to him.

"Not a morning person, huh?" Asra asked you with an amused smile.

"Nope. Whoever decided schools should start so early is a terrible, evil person," you responded. 

"We could always just ditch," Asra suggested. Muriel shot him an annoyed look. "Aww, c'mon, I've been so good so far. I've only been late 10 times and I've only ditched once!" 

You couldn't help but laugh. That was his idea of being a good student? Muriel let out a long suffering sigh. "You're gonna get held back," he warned Asra.

Asra waved his hand dismissively. "It hasn't happened yet. I'm great at bringing up my grades at the last second." He looked back at you. "So, what do you say? Shall we ditch school?"

Muriel shot you a warning look that you interpreted as "don't you dare encourage this bad behavior". As if you would. Ditching on your second day of school would be pretty stupid.

"I can't ditch on my second day of school, sorry. Ask me again in a few weeks though," you couldn't resist saying. Muriel buried his face in his hands. Whoops, you didn't mean to make him look so done with everything. 

You arrived at the school with plenty of time to spare. You decided to just follow Asra and Muriel, since you had nothing better to do. They went to the cafeteria and sat down at the table from yesterday. You stared at the part of the table directly in front of you, and saw the paint was chipped. In fact, it was almost hard to tell if the color was supposed to be blue or gray, what with the fact that the tables seemed slightly dirty. It made you wonder just how old these tables were exactly.

"We always hangout here in the mornings," Asra explained. "The others usually show up at some point."

"Wish they wouldn't," Muriel said. You were still in awe that there was someone more anti-social than you. You hoped you could become his friend, because you could foresee great times of just sitting in silence and vibing. 

You spent a few minutes chatting with them (well, okay, mostly with Asra) before anyone else showed up. You were pleasantly surprised when Portia bounded up to the table shouting your name. 

"Good morning!" she greeted you with a bright smile as she sat down next to you and gave you a big hug. Your eyes widened but you hesitantly hugged her back. 

"That's a dirty lie, Pasha," Julian complained as he sat down across from you guys. He looked as tired as you felt, and he was clutching a venti cup of coffee from Starbucks. 

"Shut up and drink your coffee, Ilya," Portia responded. She stuck her tongue out at her brother, and then turned back to you. "I brought you something!"

She pulled a small paper bag with the Starbucks logo out from her backpack, and handed it over to you. You opened it up and saw a cake pop inside. Your heart honestly melted a little at the sweetness of this girl. You weren't used to being around someone like her, but you had to admit that you liked it. 

"Aw, thank you! That was really nice of you," you told her, feeling yourself finally perk up. At the sight of your happy smile, Portia looked even more chipper, which you hadn't thought was possible. 

"Hey, what about the rest of us?" Asra asked Portia. 

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot," she said with a mischievous smile. She grabbed another bag and handed it to Muriel.

"...Thanks," he said to her.

Asra pouted slightly at Portia. She just shrugged at him, and said, "Sorry, I don't have anymore."

"And that's because I got you one," Julian cut in before Asra could say anything. He handed the bag to Asra with a dramatic flourish. Honestly, these two were the most extra siblings you'd ever met.

"Thanks, Ilya," Asra seemed a little happier now. The five of you enjoyed your snacks, up until Lucio showed up.

"Don't worry everyone, I'm here now!" Lucio announced, sitting down next to Julian and slinging an arm around him. He didn't seem to notice Julian's utter look of disgust. 

"Trust me, we weren't worried at all," Portia said with barely-hidden annoyance. The look of contempt on her face was honestly pretty hilarious. 

Lucio either didn't notice or didn't care. Instead he looked around and asked, "Where's Noddy?"

"Her sister is probably running late again," Julian answered as he finally managed to shrug out from under Lucio's arm.

"Nadia has a sister?" you asked. 

"Yeah, she has a bunch of them! They're all super cool and super pretty," Portia told you. "Most of them have graduated already, except Natiqa. She's a senior this year."

"They're alright, I guess. None of them can compare to Noddy, though," Lucio said with a shrug. You wondered if he would ever actually have a chance with her. She seemed like she was super out of his league. Speaking of Nadia, she was approaching the table now. 

"Are you all discussing me behind my back?" Nadia asked as she came up behind Lucio and Julian. 

"Only good things, my dear," Julian cut in smoothly before Lucio could say anything. Lucio glared at Julian as Nadia smiled at the redhead and took a seat next to him.

"We were worried you'd end up being late again!" Portia told her.

Nadia let out a sigh. "I managed to get Natiqa out of our house at a reasonable time this morning, although I will admit it was a struggle. I'm looking forward to next year when I'll no longer have to deal with any of my sisters being at this school."

"Do you not like your sisters?" You were surprised that you even asked, but you were curious. Portia had described them in a positive way, but Nadia didn't quite seem to share that perspective. Nadia looked at you, and you felt almost nervous at having her attention on you. It was just so intimidating talking to someone who was so beautiful and elegant! 

"They are my family, and I care for them, but being around them can be suffocating. I'm the youngest, and they take pleasure on constantly reminding me of that fact," Nadia explained, looking a bit irritated as she discussed her family. "They act as though I am incapable of taking care of myself."

"I'm sorry," you told her. You wished you could relate, but, well, you were an only child. "Maybe they don't realize how they're making you feel? I mean, I don't really know you yet, but you seem pretty badass to me."

The irritation slipped off her face and she let out a light laugh at your words. "I can't say I've ever been called badass before, but I'm not opposed to it. And don't worry, there's plenty of time for us to get to know each other," she told you with a smile that softened her face. With her looking at you like that, you no longer felt at all intimidated. She looked at you like she actually cared what you had to say, and it was definitely a nice feeling.

When the morning bell rang, you said goodbye to your friends and started making your way to your first class of the day, Algebra 2. The building with all the math classes was on the other side of the school, so you couldn’t afford to hang around the table longer. You kind of regretted doing Geometry freshmen year instead of starting at Algebra 1, because now you'd be thrown into even harder math even sooner. But you'd just have to do your best and hope the numbers all made sense to you. You noticed that Muriel seemed to be heading the same way as you, so you hurried to catch up to him.

"Hey, Muriel, where are you headed?" you asked him. He seemed startled at someone approaching him, but he relaxed a bit when he saw it was you.

"Algebra 2," he answered after a moment. 

"Hey, me too!" You showed him your schedule. "Is this the same one you're in?"

He looked at the schedule and then nodded. You smiled up at him. "Good, I'm glad I'll have someone I know in that class. I hope I'll be able to sit by you."

"You... want to be near me?" He seemed rather surprised. 

"Well, yeah? Why wouldn't I?" you asked him. 

"Most people don't," he muttered, looking away from you. 

"Well, I'm not most people," you told him, giving his arm a friendly pat.

He glanced at you. "We'll see."

Hm. Fine, you could be patient. Just because he wasn't letting you in right away didn't mean you were going to give up. Some things were worth the effort, and something told you that befriending him was one of those things. He could try to scare you off, but you could see past it. Your vibe checks told you that he was a good person. 

You were indeed lucky enough to sit at the desk next to Muriel. He seemed confused and embarrassed by your happiness at this pleasant turn of events, but you weren't bothered by that. Hopefully having this class with him would give you more time to get to know him, without him constantly using Asra as a buffer against interacting with other people.

You didn't get a chance to talk to him for a while, because the teacher was lecturing. You tried your best to take good notes, because if you got lost now you'd be doomed for the whole year. Oh well, there was bound to be at least one person among your new friends that was good at math. If you got confused hopefully someone could help you. At any rate, you were glad when the lecture ended and the class was told to work on homework.

"So, how long have you and Asra known each other?" you asked Muriel. With how close they seemed to be, you had a feeling they went back a while. 

"Since we were kids," Muriel answered. He once again seemed surprised at you talking to him. 

"Wow, I wish I had a friend that I'd known that long," you sighed. "You two seem really close. You're super lucky."

"Asra's a good person." He really was going to make you try hard to keep a conversation going, wasn’t he?

"Then I guess you must be too." There, let’s see what he would say to that. The look of confusion on his face was sort of adorable.

"Why would you say that?" he demanded.

"Well, if he's a good person and he's that close to you, it doesn't make sense that you would be bad. Besides, I'm not getting any bad vibes from you, and the vibe checks are real, my dude,” you told him with a smile.

"...If you say so,” he muttered as he looked away from you. Fine, you could take a hint. You’d let him have his space now. You’d have plenty of time to keep getting to know him, and hopefully you’d be able to form a real friendship. 

The rest of the class was spent working on homework. You tried to get as much done as you could now, while the lesson was still fresh in your head. You managed to get a good amount done, which made you feel better. It was one less thing to stress over, at any rate. When the bell rang, you said your goodbyes to Muriel, and headed off to your next class of the day. History sounded easy enough, so long as you could manage to keep all the dates together for when different things happened. Of course, it was two buildings over, but you managed to get there with time to spare. You entered the classroom, and the teacher told you where to sit. A minute later, you were pleasantly surprised to see Asra enter the room and sit in front of you. 

“Hey, you’re in this class?” he asked you. He seemed pleased.

“Yep. In hindsight, I really should’ve just compared my schedule with everyone’s, since there’s been at least one of you in all of my classes,” you commented. 

“Well, what’s your last class of the day going to be? Maybe I’ll be in it,” Asra said. You slid your schedule over to him, and he laughed.

“You’re in that class too?” you asked him. 

“Me and everyone else in our friend group, actually,” Asra informed you. Well, how about that. That was sure to be fun, and probably chaotic as well. You felt bad for whoever the teacher was, having to deal with that whole group. 

The class went by quickly enough. You really enjoyed talking to Asra. Being around him just put you at peace, and it kind of felt like you’d known him for a long time. He was kind, funny, and encouraging. You were really glad to be in this class with him. After a lecture, the teacher passed out a worksheet, and between the two of you, you were both able to finish it quickly. You did all the odd questions, while he did all of the evens. Once you finished, you were able to spend the rest of class chatting. It made the time go by very quickly, and before you knew it, the two of you were walking to lunch.

This time, Lucio already had a bunch of food from In n Out waiting. Apparently he tended to just leave class early sometimes so he could go buy food. You were surprised but happy when he actually gave you food this time. He must really have decided that you were part of the group. You decided that was probably a good thing. At any rate, you didn't feel like fighting it anymore.

Lunch was a lot more pleasant today. Not to say that it had been awful or anything the day before, but it had been more awkward, to say the least. Now you’d had a few interactions with these people so they were only sort of strangers. You also didn’t have an enemy within the group, so you weren’t receiving any death glares this time. Nah, it was all good vibes and good burgers today. You could really get used to this, honestly. You liked this group enough to stop actively resisting their friendship. You were still going to be cautious, though. Trust takes time to build, and you weren’t one who trusted all that easily to begin with. Maybe in time you’d be able to fully let them in?

You were sad when lunch ended, but then you remembered that literally all of these people were going to be in your next class with you. Of course, you couldn’t say you were thrilled about being in a class like Speech and Debate. Getting up in front of people and talking just was not all that appealing to you. Still, you wouldn’t be alone, so that was something. Your new friends were all thrilled to learn that you were going to be in their class. It was honestly a little embarrassing, having people who were excited to be around you. It was kind of nice, though.

For the final time, you went up to the teacher and introduced yourself as a new student. You were very put off that you were immediately told to do a quick introduction to the class. None of your other classes made you do that! Apparently they’d all had to do this on the first day of class. That didn’t make you feel better, though.

You got it done with as soon as possible, and ignored the urge to flip off a smirking Lucio who seemed all too entertained by your discomfort. 

The teacher then explained that everyone was working on their first speech of the semester. They asked the class if there was anyone who didn’t mind taking the time to fill you in on everything. You rolled your eyes when all of your friends raised their hands (even Muriel, after being nudged by Asra). Okay, it was kind of cute, but come on. Why were they like this?

“Nadia, you’re the only one who’s never once gotten in trouble, and you’re the most responsible, so you can be the one to help get them caught up,” the teacher decided. You hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to Nadia yet, so this could actually be fun!

“So, this class must be interesting, with the whole gang being here,” you commented as you sat down next to her.

“That is one way to describe it, I suppose,” Nadia said with a wry smile.

The two of you went over the syllabus together, and Nadia explained the requirements for the current speech project. You were kind of in awe at how well she explained things. She was just so confident and eloquent. You were definitely glad to have her out of everyone working with you right now, that was for sure. She let you bounce ideas off of her, and she explained what she had come up with so far for her own speech. By the time the class had ended, you felt that you had a good start on your speech, which was honestly surprising.

What was more surprising was that Nadia insisted on driving you home.

“Oh, it’s fine, I’m good with taking the bus!” you told her. The last thing you wanted to do was inconvenience her.

“I have found myself enjoying your company, so driving you to your home would benefit me as much as it would benefit you.” Well, damn, you couldn’t argue with that. If she really wanted to hangout more, you’d feel like a dick if you said no. Plus she was one of those people that you didn’t really want to say no to.

So that’s how you found yourself in her really nice car. Seriously, you weren’t one of those people that was super into cars or anything. Sure, you found movies like the Fast and the Furious as entertaining as the next person did, but you never obsessed over cars. However, when you got into Nadia’s car, for the first time in your life you kinda understood why some people were into cars. You weren’t knowledgeable enough about cars to immediately know what you were looking at, but it was black and sleek, and you really wanted one for yourself. When you got inside and sat down on the fancy leather seats, you fell even more in love. Also, wow, she really kept her car clean. It was spotless! You almost felt like even your breathing would be enough to dirty the car.

“We just need to wait for my sister,” Nadia told you, breaking you out of your thoughts regarding the car. Oh, right, she had a sister. You’d sort of forgotten about that.

“Um, should I move to the back then so your sister can be up front…?” Your hand was hovering over the seatbelt.

“Of course not. Natiqa will be just fine in the backseat,” Nadia assured you. You hoped that she was right, because you felt pretty bad about the idea of her sister having to sit in the back. At the same time, though, you were glad to be in the front with Nadia.

“So, how many sisters do you have exactly?” you asked her. From what you heard, she definitely had more than just two or three.

“I’m the youngest of seven,” Nadia answered. No wonder she’d described her family situation as being suffocating!

“Wow, so you have six sisters?” That was more than you’d been expecting, honestly. “Are they all still living at home?”

“Not anymore. Now only Natiqa and I live with our parents. However, the rest of them do still stop by a lot,” she explained. “Speak of the devil. Here she comes.”

You saw a pretty girl with long, dark blue hair approaching the car. She raised an eyebrow when she saw you sitting up front, and you felt awkward again as she went to the back instead.

“Nadi, you didn’t tell me you were bringing a friend home,” Natiqa said as she got into the seat behind you.

“I’m not. I’m dropping them off at their home,” Nadia explained. She introduced the two of you, and you twisted around to greet her sister.

“I’ve never seen you around before. Nadi doesn’t make new friends very often,” Natiqa commented as Nadia started driving. She had already put your address into the GPS, so she didn’t need directions from you. Nadia seemed annoyed at her sister commenting on her social life.

“Oh, yeah, I just moved here and somehow ended up in Nadia’s friend group. They’re all really nice. Well, Lucio’s annoying, but the rest of them are great, especially Nadia,” you said. Nadia glanced at you and smiled, and you were happy that you’d lifted her mood.

“Yes, Lucio is quite irritating sometimes,” Nadia agreed with you. “I think he means well, deep, deep down inside. He’s an idiot, though, so he has a tendency to cause problems.”

“He throws fun parties, though,” Natiqa commented. You looked at the rearview mirror and saw her mischievous smirk.

“Can they really be considered fun when the cops show up half of the time?” Nadia asked with a sigh. Wow, you should really try to avoid going to his parties.

“Come on, baby sister, where’s your sense of adventure? Is it really a party if the cops don’t get called?” Natiqa teased. Nadia rolled her eyes.

“My sense of adventure is perfectly intact. I just don’t see the appeal in such things,” Nadia said with a frown.

“Me neither. That sounds like the opposite of a good time,” you agreed.

“You two are so boring,” Natiqa complained. You and Nadia exchanged amused looks.

You found yourself disappointed when you arrived at your home. You had been having fun getting to know Nadia better, and the interactions between her and her sister were interesting to observe. As an only child, you had always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. Though, you had to admit that you probably wouldn’t want as many as Nadia had. That would just be way too much.

“Thank you so much for giving me a ride home,” you said to Nadia.

“Of course. I’m happy to do so anytime you need me to,” she told you.

“It was nice meeting you, Natiqa. I’ll see you tomorrow at school, Nadia!” You got out of the car and waved at the sisters.

You hoped that tomorrow would be as good a day as today had been. If this was what your life here would be like, then maybe you could actually be happy. It wasn’t something you had counted on, but you desperately wanted it. You were tired of being lonely. You were still wary about letting people in, but something told you that, just maybe, these were people you could truly count on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so very sorry for how long it took me to get this up. life's just been hectic, and i've been struggling with my depression and not being able to go to therapy due to the quarantine. but i finished my spring semester of school, so that's one less thing for me to stress about! i'll be honest, i lost inspiration for this story, but i didn't want to let anyone down so i forced myself to keep writing. i'll do my best to write more for you guys!

**Author's Note:**

> okay so like... if you guys want more lemme know some of what you wanna see? also gimme ideas for what other characters could be teachers hehe like all i knew was i HAD to have valdemar as a creepy bio teacher who makes the class do dissections like once a month. b u t who else do you wanna see being teachers and what subjects??
> 
> also help what class could reader character have w/ nadia and muriel, maybe an elective or somethin??


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